Air fresheners are commonly available for dispensing a fragrance into a particular environment such as a room or passenger area of a motor vehicle.
Air fresheners are available that plug into an electrical outlet and rely upon a small degree of electrical heating to dispense fragrance. Exemplary air fresheners that plug into electrical outlets are commercially available under the names GLADE PLUGINS, AIR WICK, and RENUZIT SCENTED OIL AIRLETS. Exemplary patent documents disclosing plug-in air fresheners include U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,140 to Leonard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,202 to Jankel, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,421 to Luthy.
Dryer sheets are available for dispensing fabric softener and fragrance onto laundry during a drying cycle in a dryer. Dryer sheets are generally considered to be single use dryer sheets and can be disposed of after each use in a dryer. Exemplary dryer sheets are commercially available under the names BOUNCE, SNUGGLE, DOWNY, ALL, GAIN, and CUDDLE SOFT. Dryer sheets are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,692 to Gaiser, U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,025 to Morton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,895 to Cook et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,230 to Borcher, Sr., et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,595 to Morris et al.
Various techniques have been developed for mechanically imparting a fragrance onto laundry. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,633 to Chute et al., and U.S. patent application Publication No. U.S. 2003/0224965 to Conley et al.